About Me - Bhaskar Pulikal, Short Story Writer

I've been writing fiction in Telugu and English for more than four decades, publishing under the pen name నిర్మలాదిత్య / Nirmalāditya in journals including Andhra Prabha, Koumudi, Saaranga, Madhuravani, and Sirimalle. My work has been recognized with as many as ten winners (and three of them consecutively (2016-2018)) in the prestigious  Vanguri Foundation short story contests.

In recent years my writing has centered on Emergent Realism — a narrative approach where two or more independently complete stories, read together, generate a third story that exists only in the reader's imagination. It's less a technique than a way of asking what fiction can do that a single narrative can't.

I'm currently completing Nirmaladitya 'Viswam kathalu'  a bilingual anthology of short stories built entirely on this framework — the third and final volume of a trilogy that began with my Telugu work in India and continued through my diaspora years in America. Several stories from the new anthology are currently under consideration at major literary magazines; I'll share more as that unfolds.

Alongside the writing, I paint, photograph, and make short films — pursuits I plan to give more room to once this anthology is complete.

If you're a fellow writer, editor, or reader curious about Emergent Realism, I'd love to hear from you.

Writers, artists, and anyone interested in creative work, including those who aspire to craft award-winning stories and exploring new ways of telling stories.